A Partial Answer Behind Why Some PS3 Games Need to Install

[Sqrl]

Played_Out said:

Sqrl said:
FYI - The diameter of the data holding section of a DVD is 116mm outer and 44mm inner. This means that the total area for data storage is aprox 36,200mm². Of that area ~15,680mm² is in the outer 1/3rd of the disc where it spins the fastest. In other words aprox 43.3% of the data is available at the highest speeds.

Your basic argument is true, but the way it is worded gives something of a false impression. You make it sound as though 43.3% of the data will be read at the fastest speed, which is obviously not the case. It is true that the mean average speed will be higher than the median though.

Data can be pulled from a 12x DVD at a Constant Angular Velocity faster than it can from a 2x BD at Constant Linear Velocity, but the 360's drive can only read dual-layer discs at 8x, giving the advantage to the PS3's BD drive. The DVD drive's top speed will always be higher than the BD drive's though, so both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

I know what you're getting at but I said the highest speedS, as in plural. No offense to our less technically inclined readers but frankly the people who wouldn't grasp this are the ones whose eyes would likely glaze over when they read the word "diameter". It should be fairly obvious to everyone else.

The larger amounts of data in the outer tracks is true of both Blu-Ray and DVD so I really wasn't trying to say one had an advantage over the other. I was actually driving at the fact that with some planning of where data is to go on the disc they can put assets that need to be loaded quickly on the outer edges and assets that aren't going to be loaded under time constraints towards the inner edges. They've been doing this with DVDs in games for years to combat this exact problem (ie load times).